gshc2020.com

The world No 1 had won the first six premier events of the season after following his World Championship triumph at Alexandra Palace in January with the World Masters, UK Open, Premier League, World Cup of Darts and World Matchplay.

Littler was hoping to add the World Series of Darts Finals, World Grand Prix, European Championship, Grand Slam of Darts and Players Championship Finals trophies to complete a historic monopoly over the year - but ran into an inspired Clayton, who reeled off seven of the last eight legs to beat the teenager in a tournament ultimately won by Ross Smith.

• Darts in 2026: Tournament calendar and winners
• Latest Sky Sports deals or stream no contract
• Listen to Sky Sports' Love the Darts podcast

Darts in 2026

What next for Littler?

Littler can still sweep the ranking events in 2026 - the World Series Finals, like the World Cup and Premier League, is non-ranked - if he wins the remaining four majors in Leicester, Dortmund, Wolverhampton and Minehead this autumn.

'The Nuke' has work to do to reach the Players Championship Finals, though, as he sits 125th on the Order of Merit in that series with six events of the regular season remaining and only the top 64 players advance to the finale in Somerset from November 27-29.

Twitter

This content is provided by Twitter, which may be using cookies and other technologies. To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies. You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable Twitter cookies or to allow those cookies just once. You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options.

Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to Twitter cookies. To view this content you can use the button below to allow Twitter cookies for this session only.

The teenager - currently £16,750 adrift of the final qualification spot - had hinted he may not try to reach the Players Championship Finals should his hopes of a major sweep end in the Netherlands.

The next Players Championship events are in Den Bosch on Tuesday and Wednesday before two more at the same venue on October 28 and 29 and then a final two in Leicester on November 4 and 5.

Clayton: Not the Littler we know

Jonny Clayton, speaking to ITV4 after victory over Luke Littler:

"To be honest, I just thought, 'relax, go out and try your best'.

"Luke wasn't at full flow. He missed a lot of darts at doubles, and that's the name of the game. You have to take your chances.

"All respect to Luke, he's fantastic but he gave me chances upon chances. That's not the Littler we all know. But Jonny Clayton can play darts as well!"

'Everyone is fallible - Littler felt the pressure'

Multi-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld, speaking to ITV4:

"It's the pressure. Everyone talks about: 'can Littler do the whole year and win all the big majors'. It gives big pressure.

"He wants to perform. He's the best player at the moment, but everyone is fallible. Everyone wants your scalp."

Littler, Humphries and Van Gerwen fall early

Victory at the World Series of Darts Finals would have been Littler's second in three years, having beaten Michael Smith to triumph in 2024 before losing to Michael van Gerwen in the final 12 months ago.

Littler had suffered scares earlier this week, rallying from 3-1 down to defeat Danny Noppert 6-4 in round one and then surviving a last-leg shoot-out versus Nathan Aspinall to win 10-9 in the last 16.

World No 2 Luke Humphries was eliminated by Dirk van Duijvenbode in round two on Saturday, while defending champion Van Gerwen fell in the opening round on Thursday, losing to Daryl Gurney.

Van Gerwen's World Series Finals victory last season is the only major he has won since 2023 and he has failed to reach an individual quarter-final in this year's majors.

The 37-year-old did make it to the final of the World Cup of Darts for Netherlands alongside doubles partner Van Veen, where the Dutch duo were beaten by England's Littler and Humphries.

That World Cup victory for Littler in Frankfurt in June means the European Championship is the only major title absent from his CV - something he will hope to rectify in Dortmund next month.

What could the rest of Littler's year look like?

Sunday's World Series of Darts Finals results

Final
Ross Smith 11-5 Gerwyn Price

Semi-finals
Ross Smith 11-8 Gian van Veen
Gerwyn Price 11-7 Jonny Clayton

Quarter-finals
Ross Smith 10-7 Josh Rock
Gian van Veen 10-8 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Gerwyn Price 10-7 James Wade
Jonny Clayton 10-4 Luke Littler

Sky Sports remains the home of darts with the World Grand Prix (September 28-October 4), Grand Slam of Darts (November 14-22) and World Darts Championship (December 10-January 3) all live. Stream darts and more through NOW with no contract. %!s()

There has been speculation throughout the season over whether both events would move to a different country, with Formula 1 cancelling two events earlier in the year in the region and discussions ongoing over whether races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi will go ahead.

• Recap: BMW PGA Championship final round as it happened
• Latest DP World Tour headlines, reports and highlights
• Final BMW PGA Championship leaderboard and other scores
• Get latest Sky Sports deals or stream with no contract on NOW

Matt Fitzpatrick and Bob MacIntyre were among players to express concerns about travelling to the UAE, despite a relaxing of the previous "all but essential travel" guidelines from the UK's Foreign Office, with Kinnings hopeful both events can take place as planned.

"A lot of people are asking and it's an obvious question," Kinnings told Sky Sports. "The reality is we expect every intention to be playing in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

"Work has started and we're building stuff at Yas Links and at the Jumeirah Golf Estates, so our intention is to go ahead.

"We clearly need to keep in touch with travel advisors and other people who help with us, but our plan is definitely to play the Play-Offs in the UAE."

Defending DP World Tour champion Fitzpatrick said on Wednesday that he was "not that comfortable" playing in Dubai, given its proximity to the conflict involving Iran, the United States and Israel, although McIlroy was less concerned.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

"If the local governments feel like it's safe to put on these events, they are not going to put their citizens or people visiting in harm's way," McIlroy said after his opening round at the BMW PGA Championship.

"I love the Middle East. I have a lot of friends there and I'm looking forward to going back for sure."

'Future looks bright for DP World Tour'

The DP World Tour announced its 2027 schedule at the BMW PGA Championship, with the Flagship Event being held a week later next year and immediately after the centenary Ryder Cup at Adare Manor.

Twitter

This content is provided by Twitter, which may be using cookies and other technologies. To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies. You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable Twitter cookies or to allow those cookies just once. You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options.

Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to Twitter cookies. To view this content you can use the button below to allow Twitter cookies for this session only.

JJ Spaun and Ryan Gerard were among the limited American players to make the trip over to England for the event, despite more spots being available to PGA Tour players, although Kinnings hopes to see more make the journey in the future.

"I think the future schedule will lend itself to that," Kinnings said. "We've got a great working relationship with the PGA Tour and we're working with them on what the future will look like.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

"I think the way the schedule's set up, with golf in America stopping at the end of August, we've got the opportunity to shine from September 1 until the end of January. I think that'll mean more of the guys will come and play in great events like this and some of the other tournaments as well."

Kinnings added: "I have to say, I couldn't be more excited. I think it's a huge opportunity for international golf. We clearly have wonderful players and we have an opportunity to shine in the schedule."

The DP World Tour has yet to announce whether it will impose sanctions for its members wishing to play in the new iteration of the LIV Golf League, should LIV 2.0 go ahead as planned in 2027, with Kinnings keen to see the strongest fields possible on his circuit.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

"We've been very consistent on the whole question and we're going to continue that way," Kinnings insisted. "What will happen with LIV is entirely speculation, but from our perspective we want to find a balance. As a business, we just love to have the best fields we possibly can with the best players.

"But we're also a member's organisation and our job is purely to make sure we look out for the best interests of the members. We have a wonderful tour, amazing culture and that's because of the players, so nothing's going to change on that front.

"I think we're in a stronger position as we can possibly be. We've got great partners and the future looks bright - we now just need to work out exactly what it looks like."

Who will win the Race to Dubai? Watch every event of the DP World Tour season live on Sky Sports Golf. Get latest Sky Sports deals or stream with no contract on NOW. %!s()

The unnamed man was in serious but stable condition at a hospital after being shot once in the torso on the city’s north side, Austin’s police chief, Lisa Davis, said at a news conference with the mayor and other city officials.

The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, did not participate in the news conference and didn’t immediately respond to requests for details.

Austin police officers were not involved in the operation or the shooting, which occurred after a traffic stop, Davis told reporters.

Kirk Watson, Austin’s Democratic mayor, said he wants the city’s police department to be involved in the investigation so it can provide “clear, third-party eyes” in the process. Watson said he does not think it would be appropriate for ICE to conduct an investigation on its own.

Austin residents have “a right to feel safe in their city”, Watson said. A proper investigation will only enhance credibility, he added.

Davis said she did not yet know the nationality of the person who was shot. The chief said there were not many facts she could provide so soon after the incident, but added that her department’s special investigation unit was at the scene.

A dark blue Toyota Corolla was parked under an overpass with damage to its passenger-side door and what appeared to be bullet holes, local media reported.

A large law enforcement presence was at the scene, along with a crowd of about a hundred protesters. Some demonstrators cursed at police officers holding riot shields, while others yelled out as passing cars honked in support of the protest. One man held a sign saying “Nobody is safe” and on the other side, “ICE Nazi”.

Asked if Austin authorities knew where the involved federal agent is, given that agents have left states after previous shootings nationwide, the mayor said: “We do not know that. But my hope would be that, an agent that’s involved in an officer-involved shooting would not leave the city. Certainly not leave the state.”

Greg Casar, a Democratic congressman representing parts of Austin, called for transparency as the shooting is investigated.

“It is awful that this horror has come to our doorstep,” Casar told reporters. “For Austin to be safe, ICE should end its surge here.”

The shooting comes as ICE surges enforcement across the country this summer, producing more than 50,000 arrests a month for the first time in its history in July and August.

In July, an ICE officer fatally shot 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo of Houston, after federal agents driving unmarked vehicles pursued him while he was taking his construction crew to a job site.

Also in July, Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, a 25-year-old Colombian man, was shot by an ICE officer in Maine. The officer is an army veteran who has struggled with serious mental health issues since early childhood and never should have been given a badge and gun to patrol American streets, several of his close relatives told the Associated Press.

The administration’s enforcement efforts were widely condemned last winter after the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minnesota. %!s()

Moch Subchi Azal Tsani or Bechi, as he is known, is the son of an influential Islamic religious leader. His trial sent shockwaves through Indonesia, a Muslim-majority country where millions of parents send their children to Islamic boarding schools.

He was arrested in 2022 at his father's school in East Java where he had taught, after a 15-hour siege involving nearly 1,000 riot police - his family's supporters had gathered in large numbers to prevent his arrest. He was sentenced to seven years in prison later that year.

The government withdrew the school's operating licence, but then President Joko Widodo intervened to keep the school open, arguing that the case involved an individual rather than the institution.

But our investigation has uncovered further allegations against Bechi, 46, and evidence suggesting that the school and the family attempted to suppress them.

Bechi's release comes as the National Commission on Violence against Women warns of an "emergency" of sexual violence in Islamic boarding schools. It says the power of religious leaders is shielding these schools from oversight and repercussions, while discouraging students from reporting abuse.

Of the several female students who alleged abuse and rape against Bechi, only one pursued a legal case that led to him being convicted. Her identity has never been made public.

Prosecutors sought the maximum sentence – 16 years – for rape, but the court found Bechi not guilty of rape, and convicted him for the lesser charge of sexual assault.

Undercover footage recorded by the BBC now reveals that he has been released after serving less than half his sentence.

Catching My Teacher 

Two ex-students expose sexual abuse by teachers at Islamic boarding schools in Indonesia

Bechi would have been eligible for parole around March 2027, or would have been released at the end of his sentence in 2029.

Indonesia's Ministry of Immigration and Corrections told the BBC that Bechi was released in August 2025 because of "sentence remissions granted to him in accordance with applicable regulations". The ministry said it could not say why his sentence was reduced.

Ira Puspitasari was another student who testified at the trial, but her allegations didn't lead to separate charges. She waived her legal right to anonymity to speak publicly about this for the first time.

"I was treated as his slave. I was held captive, raped, beaten," she says. "I can never forget what he said to me: 'Don't you realise you're just my slave?'"

After watching the undercover footage of Bechi smiling and greeting supporters at an event in March, she tears up and says: "It's like nothing ever happened."

Ira told the BBC she was raped and sexually abused by him for more than four years, from the time she was 15 years old. She said she tried to run away but Bechi's private security guards tracked her down, kidnapped her and took her to a secluded hut, where Bechi tortured and raped her.  She said she was then expelled from the school.

She said she reported all of this to the police but was then intimidated into withdrawing her police report. She shared an audio recording of Bechi's mother telling her to say that "nothing had happened".

In January this year, after hearing that Bechi may have been released early, BBC undercover reporters attended an annual prayer event at the Shiddiqiyyah Islamic boarding school in East Java.

The reporters saw Bechi wearing a mask and sitting beside his father. Just before he appeared on stage, filming and photography was prohibited, a marked difference from previous years.

Then in March, BBC reporters again captured Bechi on hidden camera at another prayer event for Eid at his family home located in the same compound as the school.

The BBC sought comment from Bechi, his mother and the Shiddiqiyyah school but there has been no response.

The students who testified, including the girl he was convicted of sexually assaulting, were placed under witness protection and Indonesian law requires them to be informed of Bechi's release.

But they were not informed, Ira and another former student who testified told the BBC. They were stunned by the undercover footage of Bechi because they believed he was still in prison.

The ministry said that victims need not be informed because Bechi remains on parole, but the witness protection agency disputed this, saying the victims must still be informed.

Ayu Masuroh says she was never abused by Bechi but she started investigating the allegations of abuse against him after hearing about them from schoolmates. She lives close to the school and says she is frightened about Bechi being out of prison.

"He hates me. His supporters have threatened to kill me many times. I will never feel safe here. I don't feel safe living in Indonesia."

Speaking publicly for the first time, she told the BBC she collected testimonies from at least 10 other female students, all of whom alleged that they were sexually assaulted or raped by Bechi.

According to her, some said Bechi told them they were "chosen", and one of them said Bechi raped her after calling her for a "personal interview".

These accounts were part of the closed-door trial, which alleged years of abuse at the school, according to court records seen by the BBC.

Nun Sayuti, a former lawyer for the school who later left and began supporting the students, says he is "deeply disappointed" by Bechi's early release, which is a "violation of victims' rights. They went through a long and difficult legal process to bring this case to light".

He, too, testified at trial. He told the court that when the rape allegations first surfaced, Bechi ordered him to make them go away. But when he started investigating the claims, he says he realised he was defending the wrong side and "knew I had to take a stand".

Nun then started collecting evidence and before leaving the school secretly recorded Bechi boasting. In the recording the BBC has heard, he says: "In my position, I can have my way with anyone I want."

The cases that have come to light across Indonesia in recent years may be just the "tip of the iceberg", the commission on violence against women, or Komnas Perempuan, warned in a statement in May.

Students in many schools are unable to report abuse because of inadequate protection mechanisms, it said, and called on the government to strengthen oversight and impose stronger penalties so that religious leaders cannot exercise unchecked power.

Bechi's case is one of Indonesia's most high-profile sexual abuse scandals, given the political influence his father wields.

Kiai Muchtar Mu'thi combines Islamic teachings with a strong emphasis on Indonesian nationalism, and the school he owns in East Java is part of a wider complex that has thousands of loyal followers.

Bechi had been teaching at the school for at least a decade when he was arrested in 2022 despite public opposition.

Hundreds of students and supporters gathered behind the gates of the school to prevent police from entering. They stood shoulder to shoulder, raising their fists and chanting that they were prepared to defend the school "with body and soul".

Over the years, Muchtar and his school – as well as the Shiddiqiyyah complex it sits in – have drawn public figures looking for support in what is a key political battleground.

In 2014, then-presidential candidate Joko Widodo visited during his political campaign. Five years later, his successor Prabowo Subianto did the same.

Indonesia's national police chief visited the school and met Muchtar in August last year, saying he wanted to forge closer ties with Shiddiqiyyah.

It was the family's connections and clout that Ira says persuaded her to withdraw her allegations against Bechi.

"I was terrified," she told the BBC, adding that it escalated as his supporters began giving her death threats.

In June 2018, Ira and her father were summoned to a hotel near the school, she says, where she met Bechi's mother, Nyai Shofwatul Ummah.

Ira secretly recorded their conversation and shared it with the BBC. In it Bechi's mother says that her son had "made mistakes, perhaps in his relationship with Ira. So I apologise".

She then urges Ira to withdraw her police report. "Nothing happened, it's only family business," she tells her.

Ira says that fearing for her safety, she signed a statement retracting her allegations, which she now regrets.

When the case went to trial, Ira says she was questioned for hours, where they "asked these really probing questions – very painful questions. I told the court everything”.

Now watching the footage of Bechi out of prison, she says, "it feels as if he has won and I've lost".

"It's very important the world knows. It's true. He is free. It's just a complete mockery of the law." %!s()

This season explores the 1892 murders of wealthy Andrew Borden (Charlie Hunnam) and his wife Abby (Rebecca Hall) in Fall River, Massachusetts. Andrew’s youngest daughter Lizzie is tried for their murders but acquitted by an all-male jury thanks largely to shoddy police work and the belief that a woman was incapable of committing such a heinous, violent crime. Those are the basic facts of the Borden case.

Showrunner Ian Brennan, who wrote all eight episodes, invents pretty much everything else in this clumsy exploration of, in his words, “a legacy of female rage.” That’s why two other real-life infamous women – the aforementioned Blood Countess (also played by Krieps) and serial killer Aileen Wuornos (Sarah Paulson) – are shoehorned into what is a show about Lizzie Borden. Brennan wants the viewer to know that women have always had it bad, as if that’s a shocking new revelation. Monster’s not as philosophical or smart as it thinks it is, sending its message loudly but often with the depth of a virtue-signaling social media post.

The truth about the Lizzie Borden case is that we simply don’t know the truth of what happened or why. Lizzie’s story changed multiple times. Monster, though, never doubts her guilt. The show opens with her killing her father and stepmother. It’s a whydunit not a whodunit. While subtlety is not really to be expected from any production that bears Ryan Murphy’s name, at least consistency would be appreciated.

Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story begins as camp, its first episodes directed by Max Winkler with such rapid-fire theatricality that Baz Luhrmann would need a breather. (Winkler also works in some Wes Anderson-esque compositions at times.) That tone doesn’t match with the two episodes directed by Sarah Adina Smith, whose episodes are among the stronger ones this season. I wonder if binge-watchers will stick with The Lizzie Borden Story through those zanier early episodes in order to get to Smith’s.

The over-the-top performances by Rebecca Hall and Charlie Hunnam initially portray the murder victims as undeserving of any sympathy at all. The show wants the viewer to see them get what’s coming to them. Later, Abby and Andrew each get their own episode that humanizes them enough that you understand why they became the people they did, so that when their murders are revisited the viewer is being asked (a bit too late) to have mixed feelings about what Lizzie, with Maggie’s assistance, does to them.

As a stepmother more wicked than any Disney animated movie could conjure, Hall milks every contemptuous line in Abby’s many cruel putdowns, wielding words as sharp as the axes Andrew keeps. Hunnam’s boorish, stammering Andrew oozes with disdain for women, drowning his sorrows with booze and affairs until he becomes a Jack Torrance-like maniac in his final moments (before literally seeing the light).

"Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story strains to jam a modern overlay onto its period story. “

Both Beatty and Krieps do what they can with the material they’ve been given, but they can’t elevate it. Beatty’s blank-eyed, timid Lizzie evolves into a more cunning and confident young woman through her romantic relationship with Maggie. Alas, there’s no evidence either way if Lizzie and Maggie were lovers. The show omits Maggie’s testimony at Lizzie’s trial, and also largely erases Maggie’s Irishness to accommodate the Luxembourg-born Krieps, with her aged-up character garbed like a Victorian Annie Hall.

In a household where a maid gets her face scalded over making the wrong soup, we’re supposed to believe Maggie could come to work at the home of the richest man in town with purple hair and keep her job? You couldn’t even go to work at an office like that in the 1980s let alone in the 1890s. I bring this up as an illustration of how much : The Lizzie Borden Story strains to jam a modern overlay onto its period story.

The contemporary portions of this season, where it follows Aileen Wuornos, is where Monster has a better grasp on what it’s trying to say about feminine rage. You can’t take your eyes off Paulson’s Wuornos, although there are a few comedic moments in the “Bed & Breakfast” episode where she comes perilously close to channeling Kate McKinnon’s “Colleen Rafferty” character from SNL.

While Wuornos’ fascination with Lizzie and her trip to the Borden home is entirely fictional, the final episode made me wish this season had just been about Aileen Wuornos with Lizzie Borden as the side story. Or, Wuornos’ story could have been its own standalone season of Monster, in which case The Lizzie Borden Story might have benefited from having a shorter, more focused story that allowed itself to pick a tone and stick to it.

Verdict

Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story aims to be an insightful commentary on female rage, but it never commits to how it wants to convey that message. Is it a Gothic dark comedy about getting away with murder or a centuries-spanning tragedy about the plight of abused and oppressed women? While it has some entertaining and even emotional moments, and a few fine performances, Monster’s fourth season is too scattershot and tonally inconsistent.